The motel was far from the reach of central Paris. It was manky, shady, held some of Paris's most dangerous criminals, yet was never touched by anyone other than those who lived in the Parisian Slums. Even the name seemed funny, 'Le Porcherie de Paris', or 'The Pigsty of Paris', if you will. The building's walls were covered in dirt, mud, the stench of unwashed blood and urine could be smelt from far away. Many who walked in chose to adorn masks, or large coats so as not to be identified, and usually stayed for only a few days.
That night, as the moon was a glimmering crescent, the gentle flicker of the neon sign could be seen, claiming that 'Le Porcherie' was 'Open all Night'.
Despite most lights being out, there was still one that was on, high up on the 5th floor, occupied by infamous Lila Rossi. Her motel room was ugly, and if there was a hoping that the inside looked better, Lila was thoroughly disappointed. The bed looked as if it had lived there for over 5 years, the window had a giant crack on it, peeling wallpaper was all she could see.
Though she had gotten used to it. Despite usual customers, Lila had stayed there for about a week or two. And the uncomfortable environment was the least of her worries.
She slammed her fist on the table, devastated. In a rush of fury, she violently shoved everything off the table, her notes on the miraculous, books from the library, the few belongings she still had. Her only companion being the dim lamp flickering weakly beside her.
Dammit!
She scowled to herself, stray brown hairs falling over her forehead. She stared at the mirror in front of her, looking at her half-cracked and manky reflection.
How could I have been so stupid!?
Her eyes were filled with fury as she flopped onto her dirty motel bedroom, pressing her hands over her face in anguish, biting her lip until she couldn't feel the pain.
No doubt prying Hawky would probably want to know why I'm so pissed.
She gritted her teeth, hating her own foolishness. She sat upright, turning around and edging toward the window behind her . She attempted to wash away her worries in the beautiful view of Paris. Not that the Parisian slums contributed to the attempt though, with the messy raggedness of the streets.
The musty buildings, the dirt-filled people, the smelly rats. No wonder Paris refused to add it to their tourism pamphlets.
She calmed down through deep breathing, folding her arms over the ledge of the window, her glassy eyes scanning the night sky. Her face fell into her arms, as she thought back to that morning.
One hair.
One dumb, stupid hair was all it took for the police to make a connection to the murders.
I should've just gone bald before I teamed up with Hawky.
In an attempt to diminish the feeling of anger and regret, Lila looked out and studied the people who roamed around the streets. A man trying to pick up another city woman, shady people creeping in and out of alleyways, a night club with too much loud music.
As her eyes flew past the nightclub, they landed on a young girl wandering around. From her viewpoint, she seemed like a stick figure at best, but she seemed to have wild blonde hair, strange rusty clothing. She also seemed to be carrying a black trash bag around.
Lila bent over the ledge, noticing that the girl threw the trash bag to her side, then scaled her eyes up and down the motel building. The girl grabbed the pipeline and tried to hoist herself up the building with slow steps.
Lila couldn't help but grin.
How adorable.
Lila couldn't possibly have wanted to miss this pathetic attempt at stealing from someone at the motel.
The young girl continued to hoist herself up. She had skill to an extent, but there was no way she could survive the high building. As the girl climbed up the pipeline, she tried to reach out to a nearby window ledge, but her arms wouldn't reach.
Lila's eyes widened as the girl slipped, screamed and fell onto the granite ground. She landed with a crunch and wailed until she grunted and couldn't get up.
Too bad...waste of talent. Oh well, it's not like she could've accomplished much living in the slums anyway, Lila shrugged to herself uncaringly.
Much to her surprise however, the girl picked herself up, her posture slightly slanted and weak. Her tiny fingers wound around the pipeline again, as she inched herself up the building once again.
Lila was rather amused.
It was kind of interesting to see the girl attempt to retry, over and over again. Though Lila sensed a bit of frustration course through her veins. She furrowed her brow, and realised she was whispering cheers and words under her breath, like 'no, get up!' and, 'put your whole weight into it.'
Before she could think, Lila pushed open the window doors and called out to the girl in a loud voice.
"Oi! You need some help?" Lila wasn't smiling, adorning a more annoyed look.
The girl looked up from toward Lila, blushing hard, and incredibly scared. She cupped her hands together nervously, then nodded slightly. Lila jumped out the window ledge, much to the girl's shock and proceeded to one-hand grab the pipeline, sliding down, then landing on a nearby light and safely landing on the ground.
Lila smiled proudly as the girl gawked at her, her mouth wide open.
"H-how d-did you?" the girl stammered, looking up from Lila's window to Lila herself.
"Skill, hon," Lila boasted, enjoying the moment. "You kind of need that around here, you know."
"Can you teach me!?" the girl cried excitedly, gripping Lila's shoulders, her eyes sparkling.
"Well...I'm not...sure I," Lila began.
Lila stared at the girls pleading eyes, then rolled her head back, sighing, hating herself again for her pity. She pressed her lips together.
Hawky wouldn't like this but...
"Fine..." a slight groan could be heard from her voice.
The girl's eyes widened, and she held out her hand for a handshake.
"My name's Mylène! Mylène Harpele!" she grinned.
Lila stared at the outstretched hand, incredibly disturbed.
"What's with the hand?" Lila snorted, staring at Mylène's hand like it was a foreign object.
"It's...a handshake," Mylène said, knitting her eyebrows together in confusion. "It's...what you do when you meet someone. Mari-...someone once told me it's polite to greet people like this."
Lila frowned.
It's not like I haven't seen a handshake before...it's just...no one uses them that often down here, that's all," Lila replied, shaking her hand reluctantly.
She paused, taking a thoughtful moment to look at Mylène. "You know, here in the Parisian slums, is all."
"Ahh," Mylène understood.
Seems like this little Millie or whatever isn't used to this place...
"Why are you stealing in the slums anyway, kid?" Lila scoffed running a hand through her brown hair. "You know; up north is the right place to steal."
"Ahh, yes, I know," Mylène replied, her head tilting down. "But...I just...last time I went there I was almost caught, that's all..."
"Scared you, huh?" Lila chuckled slightly. "No need to be scared, you got the loot right?"
Mylène flushed again, incredibly embarrassed.
"Well...yes...but I don't know how to eat the food I got," Mylène squeaked, picking up the thick black trashbag next to her. "This is what I have but...I think I need a microwave or things like that to eat it."
Lila leant over, and dug her hand in the bag and fished out a noodles packet, turning it over and reading the contents and instructions.
"Oh, you only need boiling water for this," Lila shrugged, tossing it to Mylène, who just managed to catch it.
Mylène flushed again, nodding slightly.
"You...do know what food this is...right?" Lila asked, frowning.
Mylène looked up at Lila for a minute, then looked back at the ground, shaking her head slightly.
"They're noodles, two-minute noodles," Lila explained, hands on her hips. "The richies eat it when they're in a hurry."
"Oh," Mylène understood, looking at the packet. "Is it...yummy?"
Lila couldn't help but smile.
"Yeah, they are. Just... don't eat them raw."
Mylène smiled back.
"I won't."
"If...if you want," Lila suggested, grabbing the trash bag and tossing it over her shoulder. "I can get some boiling water from the motel."
Mylène smiled, "that'd be really helpful."
"Come on, then," Lila said, turning her heel.
The two headed inside the motel.
Marinette could not stop looking at Adrien.
It might have sounded funny at first, but it was becoming a growing problem. Falling in love had thrown her off so much that whenever someone had mentioned anything like "Adrien" or "Agreste", Marinette couldn't help but rush over.
She couldn't focus on tests, studies or even her fashion since Adrien just occupied her mind all the time. Everytime she sat down on her mattress in Alya's room, savouring a bit of free time to draw fashion sketches, she would find herself drawing sketches of Adrien by accident.
The problem grew worse when Alya and her were around Nino, since that usually had Adrien tagging along as well. Marinette felt as though falling in love was a weird thing for her. She has had admirers before, such as Nathaniel, who had confessed to her last year, and Théo Barbot, who was in love with Ladybug. Chat Noir also probably had a crush on her, but she found the chance unlikely, seeing as he usually left her to deal with the akuma and goes stealing against her wishes.
It wasn't long before Alya had figured it out. Living with her proved challenging, as her Ladybug clothes were almost found.
It was a normal afternoon in her room, Marinette again, finding the blond-haired boy's face sketched onto her sketchbook and Alya intensely typing something on her phone.
"Hey Mars, just quickly," Alya began, the sound of the tapping still audible from her phone. "Can you repeat what happened when Ladybug saved you from during the last akuma attack? Just quickly."
"...Adrien..." Marinette sighed dreamily.
"What?"
"What?"
The teens stared at each other for a bit, as Marinette went bright pink and Alya's eyes were wide in shock.
Marinette slammed her sketchbook closed and placed it next to her.
"Sorry, what did y-you s-say?" Marinette stuttered. "I-uh...wasn't listening b-because..."
"You have a crush on Adrien?" Alya cried out, slamming the phone on her desk, utterly shocked. "You've literally never had a crush on anyone before, not even on celebrities!"
"No I don't! Shut up Alya!" Marinette said, a raging glow of pink on her face. "I mean yeah, I find him attractive, and like, he has a cute mole near his eye, and-"
"Oh my goodness!" Alya snapped, ignoring Marinette. "That means that Nino-"
"Nino?"
Alya blushed harder than before.
"Ni-ni...Ninothing!" Alya stammered.
The girls paused for a moment, completely surprised at each other, trying to calm down. Alya's sigh broke the silence as she got up and sat in front of Marinette on the mattress.
"Well this explains why you've been acting so strangely lately," Alya groaned, pressing a hand on her forehead as Marinette hugged her knees tightly, looking away.
"You could've just told me, I know you can't deal with stuff like this," Alya scolded lightly. "I mean, love, and all that. You were literally laughing through Titanic last week."
Marinette said nothing, just thinking to herself.
"I didn't know if I had a crush on him or anything...besides, he just...kinda..."
"Appeared?" Alya asked, propping a hand on her cheek.
"It's becoming a huge problem, Alya!" Marinette replied harshly, blushing furiously. "I can't focus during those remedial sessions with Ms Bustier, I can't focus on my studies, and anytime someone mentions him, I can't help but notice."
Alya pursed her lips together, then smiled.
"Well, I guess that's how love works for you, Mars," Alya grinned. "You become kinda...obsessed with it, wrapped in it. You just got to find a way to deal with your version of love."
Marinette stared at Alya for a moment, pondering on what she said.
"My version of love?"
"Everyone deals with emotions differently, you know...that includes love," Alya shrugged knowingly.
"What's yours then?"
"Yeah, no way in hell we're discussing my love life right now."
"Ugh...fine..." Marinette said. "What am I supposed to then?"
"Well..." Alya leaned back, thinking to herself. "Maybe give you and him a bit of space. Think it out, try find your centre. Please just don't memorise his schedule and stalk him. Stay away for a while, and when you become more confident talk to him casually. Try dating other people or something for a bit."
There was a pause as Marinette hugged her knees tighter, her eyes looking down. She then looked up at Alya and smiled.
"Thanks, Als...I'll...think about it. I mean I'll do it!" Marinette said more confidently.
"Good," Alya replied proudly, clapping her hand over Marinette's shoulder. "There, you feel better?"
"..."
"Yeah Als, thanks."
"So, Ms Rolling, are you feeling better?" Caline asked gently.
Penny tightened the grip of the white blanket around her, still shivering. Her eyes had purple and black rinds around them, and the white in her eyes were veiny and red. Her lips were trembling and her face lost the colour it once had.
She swallowed a lump in her throat, and nodded slightly, still scared.
"They came and saved you ma'am, Ladybug and Chat Noir, that is. Through statistics we have learnt that Hawkmoth never attacks the same people usually, assuming that it is a useless tactic," Caline smiled gently, as Penny returned a watery smile.
Caline laid her small hand on Rolling's shoulder, her eyes shining with confidence in her.
"It...must be hard for you Caline," Penny finally spoke, though extremely hoarsely. "You were assigned all the akuma cases weren't you?"
Caline blinked in surprise, rather confused.
She had never usually had patients talk about her before. It was rather unusual.
"Uhh, I have. I'm yet to have my first session with To-I mean, the akumatised victim, and his daughter," Caline stammered.
I keep forgetting the victims' names are classified information...
"Thank you, Caline," Penny sniffed, wiping a tear from her eye. "It's just been...really, really hard..."
Penny once again felt tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.
"I'm...I'm j-just thinking about all the people I hurt..." Penny sobbed, her face in her hands, as Caline looked on helplessly. "Oh and Jagged! I let him down so much too!"
"You didn't, Penny, you were possessed," Caline reassured, hugging Penny gently as they stayed for a bit. "Besides, no one other than Ladybug, Chat Noir and the authorities knew it was you, nobody will look at you in scorn, Penny."
"I know but..." Penny began again, releasing Caline from the hug.
She paused, took a deep breath, letting the last of her tears run down her face. She wiped her cheeks dry and tried to smile.
"You're...right Caline, the important thing is, Jagged is safe," Penny gave her a watery smile. "I'm supposed to manage him, and all that..."
"It will hurt for a bit, but eventually, you'll learn to adjust to normal life again, Ms. Rolling," Caline said, stamping Penny's return form. "Here, take this out back, they'll let you head back."
"Thank you, Caline," Penny smiled. "Thank you for the help for the past few weeks, I wish we could have met on different terms, though."
Penny took off the blanket, and headed out excitedly with her form.
"Wait Penny!" Caline called out just as she reached the door. "Be sure you take a shower before you go."
Penny ran her hand through her pixie haircut and felt her face, then sniffed her clothes, feeling disgusted, then ferociously nodded.
"Definitely!"
Penny Rolling stepped out of the taxi, breathing in the fresh central Paris city air, as her eyes scanned the tall buildings around her. She walked up to "Le Grand Paris" hotel, and nodded at the guards as she walked through the tall metallic doors.
"Ah, Ms. Rolling! Lovely to see you again!" boomed Mr Bourgeois with a warm smile.
They greeted each other with a kiss on both cheeks, until Penny looked down to see the young Chloé standing next to him, flipping her hair casually.
"Ah, Chloé, it's been a while since I've seen you," Penny smiled.
"Same," Chloé replied smartly and coolly. "How was America?"
"Uh, good, I suppose," Penny stumbled. "It was...very enlightening for me."
Chloé frowned suspiciously.
"You're entering that fashion show, correct?" Penny asked, as Mr Bourgeios hurried off upstairs for some emergency.
"Ah yes, there seems to be a ball as well," Chloé replied, blushing slightly. "The umm...Agrestes will be there..."
Penny chuckled. "Same little lovestruck girl, aren't you?"
Chloé looked up meekly at Penny, then smiled softly. "I'm...glad you're back...I missed you..."
Penny blinked, then broke into a smile. "Yeah, me too, kid."
"Jagged's in Room 15, 3rd floor," Chloé said, cupping her hands together in front of her. She then urged Penny to lean down to her.
"He wouldn't even leave his room all week, kept saying he missed you and didn't want the substitute manager!" Chloé whispered.
She grinned smugly as Penny blushed brightly.
"Well, I uh...better go see him then," Penny said sheepishly, looking away from Chloé.
"Yeah, you better go do that, then," Chloé said, folding her arms. "I've got a date of sorts with Adrien, see you, Manager Rolling."
"Ahh that girl..." Penny muttered, watching Chloé sashay away out the hotel.
Penny looked up toward the stairs.
So...he missed me that much huh?
She smiled softly as she scurried up the stairs toward the third floor. She walked past the array of rooms, looking carefully at each sign.
"Room...15...wasn't it?" Penny squinted her eyes, making sure it was the right room.
To her surprise, the door was wide open.
"Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert!" the hotel room speakers screeched, to Penny's alarm.
"Oh no an intruder!" Penny gasped. "Jagged! Jagged! Are you in here? There's an...in...intr...in..."
Penny's voice broke off, and she choked on her own breath. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, and her face went pale again. She fell to her knees, and felt tears stream down her eyes.
Jagged Stone's body was on the ground with multiple stab wounds.
Dead.
...
She didn't even notice the stray brown hair resting atop him.
Hello, this is Variiscite. Sorry this wasn't such a long chapter, and the hiatus was like a month (really sorry I needed to work the story out more!) So I'll update this earlier than usual. I found a huge plot hole I needed to fix, :L
Thank you for all the supportive comments! It's really helped me ploughed through. Sorry about the lack of Adrien, I was kind of annoyed myself -.-
~Variiscite